Hide and Seek
by Voidmagic
Summary: A young trainer ventures into the Viridian Forest while playing a game of hide-and-seek with one of her pokemon. Rated T just to be safe.


**Warning for child death. I felt like writing something very sad.**

 **Feel free to review, especially if it's constructive criticism.**

 **Disclaimers: I don't own pokemon.** **The information for the quote, and the quote content, I got from serebii .net.  
**

* * *

 _"According to old tales, these pokemon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest." - Pokedex Entry #708, Pokemon Y and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire  
_

"Phantump, where are you!" a young girl called playfully.

She was a pokemon trainer, as evident by the pokeballs hanging from her belt. It had been a year since she had begun her journey, and she was doing well. She already had many pokemon waiting for her at Professor Oak's lab and even more recorded in her pokedex.

Currently, however, she was enjoying the cool weather and playing hide-and-seek with her favorite pokemon.

"There you are." she breathed, having heard a twig snap behind her.

She spun around but there was no one there. The Viridian forest spread out before her, seeming to promise adventure and challenges she was confident she would overcome. She walked past the tree line, keeping an eye out for her ghost friend.

"Phantump! Where are you!" she called.

She thought she heard something just ahead of her, so she cautiously crept forward, ready to surprise the pokemon.

There was nothing there. She looked around and shrugged.

The woods became darker the further in she went, and before long she started to get hungry. She sat next to an old tree stump and dug through her bag for some fruit.

"Hey Phantump, it's getting late!" she yelled.

There was no reply.

"I hope nothing bad happened to him." she mumbled, taking a bite out of her food.

When she was done she slung the bag over her shoulder and continued looking until it got too dark to see much, at which point she point she found a good place to camp and got out the sleeping bag.

When she woke up the next morning her bag was gone, along with all the necessities in it. She shuffled around the area looking for it for a few hours before giving up and leaning tiredly against a tree. She yawned.

"Phantump, are you there?" she called. There was no answer, but she continued anyway. "I give up! Where are you?"

It hurt her pride to say that. If Phantump didn't show himself, she'd be angry.

He didn't, so she marched back to her sleeping bag and rolled it up. She carried it under her arm as she started retracing her steps. She didn't want to leave her pokemon behind, but after her bag had gone missing she realized she wouldn't be able to stay in the forest long. Frustration boiled in her until she finally stopped and changed her mind.

"Phantump! I'm not leaving without you, so stop playing around!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping he would hear her. She paused to catch her breath.

A flock of pidgey had taken off at her proclamation, but Phantump still didn't show himself.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry!" she warned, inwardly panicking.

Phantump had never hidden from her and when she told him to do something he generally did it. She hoped he hadn't been attacked by a wild pokemon or caught by pokemon poachers. She shook her head and tried to find her way back to where she had camped.

Phantump had to be in the woods somewhere, and he wouldn't have gone too far from her.

By the end of the day, though, she had found nothing. No food. No water. No Phantump. Nothing. She curled up in her sleeping bag and fought back tears of frustration.

The second day was as productive as the last. She began to wonder how long a person could go without eating or drinking anything, but she found it hard to think through the headache. She thought it was the stress. If she could calm down she was sure she could think of something that would get her out of the mess she found herself in, but she couldn't do that either.

That night she curled up in a ball and admitted she was lost, and that terrified her. She cried again, wishing Phantump would come back.

The third day she left the sleeping bag where it was and wandered aimlessly. She didn't know where she was or where she was going. She guessed she sort of hoped she would somehow stumble across her missing pokemon. She felt like, if she did, everything would be ok again.

Before long, she had to stop to rest, finding she tired more easily than the day before. She felt rather dizzy too, and very tired. She hadn't slept well the previous nights. She lowered herself to the ground slowly, worried she might fall if she wasn't careful. Her stomach hurt and her headache had only gotten worse, but the ground beneath her felt surprisingly comfortable. She closed her eyes.

 _"_ _Alyssa."_

The girl tried to open her eyes but met resistance. She heard her name called again. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't name it.

 _"Alyssa."_

She tore her eyes open and searched for the voice.

 _"_ _Wake up."_

She tried to turn her head in the voice's direction, but it wouldn't budge. She struggled against the invisible bonds. After a few minutes, she managed to roll over.

 _"There. You feel better now, don't you."_

She looked up and saw her phantump. She glared.

"Where the heck were you!" she asked angrily. "I looked all over the place." she sniffed.

She was relived he was ok and happy she had found him, but she was also angry he had been missing so long. She felt like her nightmare had finally ended.

"I was so worried. You idiot." she said, her voice betraying her emotions.

 _"I'm sorry. It's ok now."_

The phantump floated closer to her and she wrapped her arms around him, trying not to cry. She felt like she had done enough of that in the past few days.

"Let's get to the next town." she sniffed. "They'll have lots of food and real beds."

Phantump shook his head. _"We are home, Alyssa."_

The girl let him go and stared at him, confused. "No, this is the Viridian forest."

Phantump nodded. _"This was my home, and now it's your home too."_

The girl stepped back. The wheels in her mind turned slowly, as if dreading the inevitable realization.

"Did you...die here?" she asked slowly, afraid of the answer.

Phantump nodded.

The girl looked down at where she had been laying.

 _"Don't be sad."_ the phantump said, watching the girl's expression. _"I know it's scary at first, but trust me, it'll be ok."_

He floated in front of her. Slowly, the girl's eye's lifted to meet his.

 _"_ _You aren't alone. You have me, see?"_ He twirled and floated around her.

She nodded and a small smile appeared on her face, despite the situation, at the pokemon's antics. She wasn't hungry or thirsty anymore. Nothing hurt, and Phantump was with her.

"Ok." she said. "What do you want to do now?"

Phantump stopped to think. _"Let's find a tree stump."_

The girl nodded. "I think I saw one a few days ago," she said, walking in a random direction, "but I don't remember where it was."

 _"We'll just have to find another then."_

The girl nodded.


End file.
